Biography: Stephanie Henry is a composer and pianist from Minneapolis, MN known for creating genre-blending musical experiences that merge her classical roots with influences from her multiracial heritage, as well as modern pop, R&B, and rock. Her work pushes artistic boundaries and centers stories of people of color, exploring themes of identity, transformation, and resilience.

A passionate believer in art as activism and resistance, Stephanie balances her creative work with teaching and community engagement. She is a recipient of multiple Creative Individuals grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and has participated in several artistic residencies, including Westben's Performer-Composer Residency.

LAB Series Project: Willow Storm and the Lightning Bolts is an original glam-rock coming-of-age musical set in the mid-1980s. The show follows Aaron Richards, a shy, aspiring songwriter who discovers his fearless alter ego, Willow Storm, with the help of his best friend Tiffany. Together, they form a band-Willow Storm and the Lightning Bolts-and chase their dreams of stardom. At its core, the story explores themes of friendship, queer identity, biracial belonging, and the courage it takes to step into one's fullest self in a world that demands conformity.

Biography: Mark Benzel is a theatre maker who favors new work told through interdisciplinary means, often using the body. After earning a theatre degree at Winona State, he moved to Minneapolis and discovered devised, collaboratively driven work, which inspired him to continue developing his practice.

He has studied with esteemed local theatre makers including Jon Ferguson, Dominic Serrand, Luverne Seifert, and Bob Rosen, as well as at Pig Iron Theatre (Something From Nothing Intensive), Philippe Gaulier, and internationally with Pierre Byland. Mark has created over 50 original works with companies such as Live Action Set, Transatlantic Love Affair, Four Humors, Sandbox Theater, and The Cold Harts.

This year, he founded his own company, Simple Machines, where he has led workshops in theatrical clowning and devising, including a session at the New Theater Conference at The Crane Theater.

Mark brings this experience and passion for devised, interdisciplinary theatre to the realization of “Say When….”

LAB Series Project: Say When… is an exciting new work in development by Mark Benzel, inspired directly and indirectly by the life of Evander Berry Wall - informally known as the “King of All Dudes” in the late 1800s. Born into a family of recently acquired wealth through a rope business, Wall was said to know little of the struggle to earn money, but he mastered the art of spending it extravagantly - reportedly owning 5,000 neckties.

The work explores timely questions about wealth, social responsibility, and excess: What does a resourced person owe society? How much is enough? When do we say “when”? Wall’s story unfolds through his flamboyant public persona, his societal contributions during WWI - which earned him a medal from the French Legion - and the tensions between opulence and obligation that resonate with contemporary conversations about social media, A.I., and status.

The project plans to explore light, costume, and set design - incorporating rope, textiles, and evolving displays of ties - to create a playful, thought-provoking exploration of wealth, extravagance, and social conscience, connecting Wall’s story to questions relevant today.

Biography: Mixed Precipitation is a Twin Cities theatre company founded in 2009 with a mission to create festive theatrical events that inspire social engagement.

The company brings theater and opera to life in inventive ways through creative partnerships and lively performances in community gardens, parks, orchards, and farms. In 2016, the Star Tribune called their summer picnic operetta “the perfect summer event.”

Over 17 years of outdoor performances, Mixed Precipitation has developed productions that are joyful, musically excellent, and nimble. Their adaptations of traditional operas are vibrant mash-ups of music, lively dialogue, and physical theatre, updated to respond to contemporary issues. Past works have addressed themes such as housing and displacement due to climate crisis (Philemon and Baucis, 2017), historic mining conflicts (Falstaff and the Working Wives of Lake County, 2018), and teacher burnout and technology in the classroom (The Magic Flute, 2022).

LAB Series Project: The Carmen Files is a bold new adaptation of Georges Bizet’s 1875 French opera Carmen, where classical music and crime drama collide. In this reimagined tale, Internal Affairs investigator Micaëla takes on a smuggling ring and opera’s most famous femme fatale - forces that lure her boyfriend, Donnie, an undercover cop drawn to his dark side, down a dangerous path.

Featuring powerful vocals and flamenco dance, Mixed Precipitation blends police procedurals, forensic investigations, and detective dramas to deliver classical music’s most torrid love quartet.

Under the music direction of Gary Ruschman, the production fuses Bizet’s beloved melodies with outlaw rock and roll tunes by Fiona Apple, Christopher Cross, and Glenn Frey, with choreography by Colette Illarde.

Biographies:

Pedro Juan Fonseca: is an actor and writer working in theatre and film, blending genre storytelling, emotional depth, and social insight. His play "Children of the Night"--about the making of the Spanish-language "Dracula"-- was featured in Teatro del Pueblo's Vision-es New Works Series. His TV pitch "Screed," a newsroom procedural, was selected for the 2022 Catalyst Content Festival, and his short film "The Reaper" - a portrait of a veteran haunted by PTSD - earned him Best Screenwriter at the 2024 Cambridge Short Film Festival in the UK. Next, his one-act sci-fi play "Afterlight" will be featured alongside theater works about climate change in "The Time is Now," presented by Full Circle Theater.

Alex Galick: is an award-winning actor and director who has led productions at Rochester Civic Theater and served as assistant director at Ten Thousand Things and the Guthrie Theater. His rehearsal rooms are empathetic incubators, turning out performances that surprise actors and audiences alike. His productions of "Who You Kiss for Fun" and "Romeo & Juliet" showcase his gift for directing plays that crackle with immediacy.

Alex and Pedro first collaborated on the queer suburban drama "Pinned: A Solo Play About Your High School Bully," produced by Running Errands. That partnership evolved into Quick Forge: a creative experiment at the intersection of theatre/cinema, where original works live twice: onstage and on screen.

LAB Series Project: Quick Forge is currently developing a new play exclusively for the Park Square LAB Series, with a cinematic look and theatrical feel. "Red Herring" is a crime drama set in an interrogation room, using the familiar pleasures of a murder mystery to open up urgent commentary on class and performative justice. "Our goal," they say, "is to capture the taut precision of screen thrillers using only the tools of live theatre: movement, voice, and light."